they gleam like diamonds
by yellowcroc
Summary: post season five; It takes something drastic for Kate to make a decision.


_A/N: Thanks to my gorgeous sister and beta **thequeenofokay**. Title from The World Without by A Fine Frenzy._

* * *

Castle sat on a stool in the loft. He had a glass of wine in one hand and a diamond ring in the other. He heard a faint voice in the distance. It sounded like her. But she had left.

"Rick. Stay with me!"

He looked up. She wasn't there. She wasn't coming back. She was never coming back.

"Rick! Come on!"

He started to slip off the stool. He heard the shattering as the wine glass hit the floor. The ring span to the ground with a metallic chime. He collided with the floor in a loud thud. Everything was going fuzzy. Slowly it all faded to black.

* * *

"Rick!"

She ran along a hospital corridor. Castle lay motionless on a gurney. Bleeding out. Paramedics ran along beside.

"What happened?" one asked, close to breathless. Other paramedics and nurses were joining them, plugging tubes and wires into him.

"We were in the park sitting on the swings and then he..." Kate stopped. Thoughts of what had happened threatened to overwhelm her.

"Ma'am!" The paramedic's sharp voice snapped her back to reality.

"He proposed to me, and I heard a gun shot and he fell to the ground. I looked I couldn't see anything."

She carried on running with the medics. Still Rick showed no signs of movement. Blood was still flowing steadily from his chest.

"We've got this." One of the other paramedics told her, voice steady.

"I won't leave him!" she shouted insistently.

"You have to!" The medics disappeared into a room, leaving her behind.

Kate stopped running. Exhaustion overtook her and she fell to the floor, leaning against a wall for support. Her shirt and hands were covered in Rick's blood. It struck here that she should she should phone someone. Nobody else had no idea of the horrors that had occurred.

She dialled the first number that came to mind.

"Esposito." He answered straight away.

"It's Beckett." Her voice cracked and the words came out in a strangled sob.

"What's wrong?" Espo asked, immediately concerned.

"Come to the hospital." Tears rolled down her face.

"What's happened?"

"I'll explain when you get here," she breathed. "Can you... can you phone Alexis and Martha?" She only just managed to get the words out.

"I'll call them." He hung up.

Kate sat in silence. Every so often people would pass. Nurses, patients, visitors. She would look up thinking it was Espo, Ryan and the others. Finally the doors swung open and they walked through. She climbed to her feet with tears still on her cheeks and blood drying on her hands.

"Beckett? What happened?" Lanie asked. Espo must have phoned her too.

"Katherine?" Martha's face contorted in worry.

Kate slowly breathed out, trying to steady herself. "I went to meet Castle to talk to him. We were sitting on these swings. We were talking about our relationship and then Castle... He... Got down on one knee and proposed. I sat on the swing. I didn't know what to say." She paused, swallowing. "Next thing I knew I heard a gunshot and Rick just fell... Someone called an ambulance and the cops." For a moment, nobody said a word.

"I going to go to that crime scene and find out who the hell did this!" Ryan shouted suddenly, storming towards the door.

"I'm right behind you," Esposito said, a little more calmly. "Call us if there's any news."

Alexis was perched on a chair now, and Martha was behind her, stroking her hair comfortingly. Both had tears running silently down their cheeks. Lanie had her arms round Kate's shoulders, who was wiping the tears out of her own eyes with her sleeve.

It felt like hours had passed when a nurse walked through the door. "Family of Richard Castle?"

They all stood up. "Yes." Martha was the one to reply, her voice tight.

"Mr Castle lost a lot of blood on the way here and during surgery," the nurse told them. "From the way he was kneeling it went through his leg as well his chest. He did have some internal bleeding, but no vital organs were hit. The doctors have patched him up. He's going to be fine." The nurse smiled as they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"When can we see him?" Kate asked.

"He can have visitors now. He is asleep at the moment. He should wake up soon. He is just through the doors and second room on the left," The nurse finished, leaving them.

"Thank you," Kate breathed. She moved through the doors, the others following her.

Wires and tubes swarmed around Castle. He was utterly still, eyes closed. Kate took the chair nearest to the bed. Alexis sat beside her, and Martha stood, while Lanie hovered in the door. Kate found Rick's hand, pushing his fingers into her own.

He didn't stir. They sat for over an hour. Their whispers of "wake up" made no difference.

* * *

Esposito ducked under the yellow tape followed by Ryan.

The officer in charge approached them, and Esposito produced his badge. "We'll be taking over on this case," he told the young officer.

"I wasn't notified of any changes...?" The officer looked confused.

Esposito levelled him up with a hard look. "Check again."

"I... I'll go do that. I probably just missed the call." The young man scampered off.

They walked over to the swings, surveying the area. There was a pool of blood by one of the swings. Ryan bent down. Something caught his eye - something small and silver, glinting in the sunlight. Grabbing a pair of gloves he picked it up. A diamond ring.

"Espo. Look at this." He held it up.

"Do you think we should give it back to them?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, we probably should." Esposito held out an evidence bag for Ryan to drop the ring into.

"Let's see if we can find where that shot was taken from."

* * *

Kate was alone now, with him. She traced circles on the back of his hand with her thumb, waiting.

"You have to wake up, okay?" she murmured. "If you wake up, I'll say yes. Just wake up. Please." She could feel tears pricking her eyes again.

"Really..." Castle's voice was barely louder than a breath. Kate looked up. His eyes were still closed. He hadn't moved. For a moment she wondered if she imagined it.

"Yes," she said quietly.

His eyes flickered open, and her own widened. She leant over to him and pressed her lips to his.

He made a small pained noise when she leant away. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"

"It's okay. It was worth it," he said, smiling. She returned the smile and took his hand again.

"I don't have the ring," Castle realised.

"Maybe I can help with that." Ryan appeared in the doorway, Esposito behind him. Ryan handed over the plastic bag.

With shaky hands Castle took it out from the bag and slipped it onto Kate's finger. She smiled and decided not to kiss him again in case she injured him.


End file.
